I live in Iowa. It is a farming state. Most everything here is agriculture based. Whether you live on a farm or not, chances are you are somehow connected to farming. There are combines in the fields picking the crops, tractors on the roads carrying the crop from the fields, and huge mounds of corn or soybeans being prepared for storage. It is a frenzy of activity that goes on day and night until the harvest is finished. It’s impossible not to notice.

Watching all this activity made me think about my life and what I’ve been planting and what I expect to harvest. Galatians 6:7 tells us “..For whatever a man sows, that and that only is what he will reap.” In farming, this is a given. We would not expect the farmer to harvest watermelon when he planted corn. No, the seed he put in the ground was corn and that is what is harvested.

But when things in life are not turning out the way we hoped, we start feeling sorry for ourselves and moping around thinking we can’t get a break, or nothing good every happens for us, never considering what type of seed we have been sowing that is producing this “harvest” in our lives. We must purposefully sow good seeds in our lives if we want a good harvest. Our heart is a garden and we are the farmer.

Here are the steps to getting a good crop from the garden of your heart.

Prepare the soil

In Mark 4:15-20, Jesus describes for us the different types of soil and how it reacts when seed is planted. In order for the Word to grow we need to make sure our hearts have been prepared to receive it so it can take root and grow. We must get rid of all the weeds and rocks to make good soil. Good soil produces a good harvest. Hosea 10:12

Plant the seed

The seeds we plant start with our thoughts. Nothing ever happens until we think it. Does what your thinking align with what God says about the situation? If not – get rid of it! Replace it with a scripture. Ephesians 4:23; Romans 12:2

Cultivate

Next, watch your words. What are you saying? Chances are whatever you’ve been thinking about is coming out of your mouth. Our words have creative power, so unless you want what you’re saying to happen – zip it! Psalm 119:172; Proverbs 15:2; Psalm 35:28

Wait

Finally, trust God. Believe that what He says, what His Word says, is true. In the physical when you plant a seed, you do not reap the fruit immediately. In fact, for a long time you may not even see any evidence that there is a seed in the ground. But you know it is there and you know with time it will sprout and then grow and eventually produce fruit. The same is true with God’s Word. When we put it in our heart, it starts to grow. We may not see any evidence for a while but it is working. Eventually it will sprout and grow and produce fruit if we do not give up. Galations 6:9; Isaiah 40:31; Ephesians 6:13

Harvest!

And then it comes! That thing you have been believing for is yours. That situation you’ve been wanting to change is changed. Just like a seed growing into a plant, we may not even realize the change is happening but if we stop and look back we realize it’s happened. It is time to harvest our blessing and put it to use. When the farmers pull their crops out of the field, they do so with a specific purpose in mind for that crop. We also need to use our harvest. Whatever you are harvesting – put it to use doing good.

And then it start all over again. Never stop preparing the soil of your heart. Never stop sowing good seed into that soil. Never stop believing that it is growing into a bountiful, useful harvest. And never stop using your harvest to help someone else.

While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease. Genesis 8:22

How many times do we ask God to deliver us from a situation when His plan is for us to go through it?

Jesus was in the garden of Gethsemane praying. He knew what God’s plan was for him and he was not that excited about what he would have to endure to walk out God’s plan. Not that excited, but willing. He and God the Father had come to an understanding…Jesus knew what he had to do and he was trusting his Father to see him thru it.

How many times do we ask God to rescue us, when His plan is for us to, by His grace, go THROUGH it and come out better on the other side? Are we praying for a miracle of deliverance when we should be praying for wisdom, guidance and grace to get thru it? Relationships, finances, wayward children…no matter what we are dealing with, we can overcome it by faith in God (1 John 4:5). Trust God to provide the best outcome for your situation. Both outcomes are miraculous. One happens immediately – the other happens thru a process of learning and growth.

Judas showed up in the garden with a mob ready to arrest Jesus. Well, Peter – impulsive, passionate Peter – stepped up, drew his sword and lopped off an ear of one of the soldiers. In a movie, this would be the que for all heck to break loose. Imagine one of those movie scenes where everyone is fighting everyone…punches are flying, chairs are being broken over people’s heads. It’s a mess. But that is not what happened in this situation. Jesus calmly said, “Peter, put your sword away. Don’t you know I could call on my Father and he would send 12 legions (one legion is 6000 soldiers) of angels” (Matt 26:53) In other words, I don’t need your help…all I have to do is ask my Dad and he would rescue me. So why didn’t he? Because he knew what he had to do and he was trusting his Father to see him through.

That’s what I want…I want to be completely persuaded that no matter what my Father God asks me to do…no matter how impossible or difficult or unfair it seems…I am so sure of His love for me that I trust him to see me through it. What if Jesus had chosen the easy way out? We would have no hope of redemption and eternal life. Thank God, He chose God’s plan. And He did it all for you. Amazing love.

It has happened to me. I go to a conference or retreat and spend several days immersed in the Word. It is the main focus of the days away…time to get spiritually recharged and fed. I leave so excited about what I learned and what God is doing…and then I get home. And life is there. And reality is there. And all the things I struggled with before the conference are there. And Satan comes to steal the Word. This is the time to fight for the ground gained – to hold on to it ON PURPOSE and to not let it be stolen. Jesus told a parable about this very thing. Luke 8 tells us the parable of the sower. Jesus explains that after the Word is sown “the devil comes and takes away the word” (vs 12).

Jesus was baptized by John and had an amazing encounter with God. A voice came out of heaven saying “you are my son whom I love, with you I am well pleased.” (Matthew 3:16-17) Can you imagine hearing the voice of God audibly speak to you? Speaking such wonderful loving words? It must have been awesome. And immediately the Spirit sent Jesus into the desert for 40 days where He was tempted by Satan – he came to take away the Word that Jesus had just received. (Matthew 4) This happens to us too. We get an awesome word from God, some new revelation of a scripture or instruction on what to do or things we need to change. Then we go out into to the world and we enter the desert. Satan is there to tempt us and to try to steal the Word that was just sown in us.

The fight begins – not against flesh and blood but we fight the way Jesus did – with the WORD. How do you fight with the Word? Find scriptures that apply to the temptation or the battle you are facing and when negative, accusing thoughts come – say the scripture out loud. When you speak out loud, your mind has to stop the thought while you speak. Try it. I know this is true because I crochet. If I am counting stitches in my head and someone asks me a question, I have to stop counting to answer the question – or I have to finish counting before I answer the question. It’s just how it works. So if you say what the Word says about the situation, the thoughts have to stop. Write them down and carry them in your pocket if you have to. Every time the thoughts come…speak the Word. This is called renewing your mind. Eventually, the thoughts are replaced with what God says about the situation.

But it is a battle. We must fight to hold on to the revelation that was given to us, fight temptation to fall back to our old way. Fight. On purpose. Fight thru your 40 days in the desert and turn Satan away. Fight with scripture. When you get to the end…you have held on to what you were given, and you advance. You are ready to move on to the next thing that God has for you. This is how we grow our spirit. And the more we grow, the stronger we become. And the stronger we become, the easier it is to stand against temptation. After Jesus left the desert, He began his public ministry. He started assembling his team by calling the disciples. The desert was preparing him for the next stage of his journey.

Don’t give up. The fight will advance you to the next phase of God’s plan for you.

We got a new refrigerator a few weeks ago. This is remarkable for a couple of reasons… First of all, we were not planning to get a new refrigerator at this particular time. Our old one broke so it was a spur of the moment necessity. Secondly, my husband is a fixer. He can fix almost anything and takes pride in doing so. When the old fridge broke I was prepared to have him tinker with it, order parts and fix it. That is not what happen. In an uncharacteristic move he announced shortly after it stopped working that we should get a new one.

It’s pretty exciting to get a new appliance. We had spent time window shopping refrigerators for the “some day” purchase, so we know the type we wanted. Because we live in a somewhat rural area and because we needed a specific size to fit the space in our kitchen, we had to order so it took a couple of days before we had the new refrigerator. This gave us time to prepare. Switching out the old for the new is a lot more work than you might think.

First of all, we had to empty the old refrigerator. This was entertaining to say the least. The 4 bottles of brown mustard in the door we bought because we couldn’t remember if we had any when we were at the store. The old Tupperware at the back of the bottom shelf that had a science experiment growing inside. It all had to go. We threw away a lot of stuff we didn’t need. We kept some stuff. It reminds me of how the Holy Spirit works in our hearts. If we let him, he will go thru all the stuff and help us get rid of the things we don’t need – extra things that are not necessary, rotten things that we’ve tried to push to the back and forget about. Best of all, He will help us make use of the things that are good in us.

The next step was to remove all the treasures from the outside of the fridge. Our old fridge was covered with magnets, pictures, newspaper clippings, artwork, invitations…covered. Again, we had to remove everything, sort thru it and decide if we would keep it, find a new place, or throw it away. When the new fridge was in place, it was so pretty I did not want to clutter it up with too much “decoration”. I choose a few special items and hung them on the side of the new fridge where we can still see them, but they don’t detract from the beauty of the new appliance. When we accept Jesus as our Savior, we become a new creature. All shiny and beautiful. Don’t clutter up your shine with unnecessary junk. Let the beauty of who you are show and choose carefully what you allow to be seen on you.

When we pulled out the old fridge, the wall behind and the floor underneath needed a good scrub down. Of course, you don’t have to be getting a new appliance to do this but let’s be honest…how often does that happen? You don’t want to put a brand new item in a dirty space. The same with our relationship with God. We want the space we invite Him into to be clean and pleasing. Don’t get me wrong, He will meet you where you are and then help you clean up your space. My point is there are some things we can clean up on our own. It is so important to be aware of our surroundings and what we are exposing ourselves to.

Finally, the new fridge was in place and it was time to start filling it. It has a different layout so we had to think about the best way to organize items. Things that we use often have a prominent, easy to reach spot. Similarly, we need to keep the Word of God in a prominent place in our heart and in our minds. Meditating on scripture keeps the promises within easy reach so when we are faced with a challenge they are right there.

It seems silly to be so excited about a refrigerator, but we are really enjoying it. We are keeping it organized inside. We are more careful to remove things before they turn into a science experiment and we haven’t cluttered up the front with a lot of junk.

I’d like to keep my heart like my new fridge.

Organized so that the things I need the most are easiest to reach

Full of good stuff – nothing hidden and rotting at the back of the bottom shelf

Free of clutter so Jesus’ shine can be seen in me

In a clean place where the Holy Spirit feels comfortable and can work in me

What can we do this week to prepare our hearts for what God has planned for us?

The elections are less than 2 months away and many people are disappointed with the choice of candidates. They are tempted to not vote at all because neither option seems a good choice. Please do not fall into that temptation. Your vote is important and it is necessary.

So how do you vote when you don’t feel good about the choices?

Foundationally, we must vote based on moral issues rather than economic issues. Determine for yourself that God is your provider, not the government. If you honor Him, He will take care of your needs. (Philippians 4:19, Matthew 6:33)

Don’t base your decision on the candidate alone. Research the party platforms and find out which aligns closest to what the Bible says about the issues. America was founded on biblical principles. We have drifted away from this and it has made us vulnerable. It’s time to get back to the principles that made our country great .

Seek God’s wisdom. James 1:5 tells us that if any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally…and it shall be given him. There is no doubt that God knows who is the best candidate. He wants us to know too, so trust Him to guide you. Listen to that still, small voice and follow its prompts. (Colossians 1:9) Let peace be your umpire. When you feel peace about it, you’ll know your decision. (Colossians 3:15 Amp)

Pray for America. Pray that Christians will rise up and vote according to God’s Word. It’s time for us to stop being wimpy Christians and sitting by, while evil runs rampant in our land. We must rise up, united and make our voices heard.

It is easy to lose hope and get discouraged by the things that are happening in our country. It is easy to feel like our vote doesn’t matter or make a difference. That is just what Satan would want you to believe. One vote may not make a difference, but joined with other votes – we can make a difference. It’s time to take our country back.

In the end, our only hope is in Jesus (Matt 12:21) And in the end, He wins. Rest assured…it will turn out right.

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